Gianluca Valentino was selected from hundreds of applicants around the world to participate in the Caltech Space Challenge 2013, which took place from 25 to 29 March. The challenge, held at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in California, USA, consisted of designing a manned mission to a Martian moon. Mr Valentino formed part of Team Explorer which placed second in the competition. Fellow team members hailed from institutions such as MIT, Caltech, UCLA, University of Colorado Boulder and Cranfield University.

Lectures and mentoring were provided by senior scientists from various NASA centres (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center and Langley Research Center) as well as from the aerospace industry (Lockheed-Martin and Analytics Services Inc.). The students also visited the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed and operates the current robotic missions on Mars, and had the opportunity to meet Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the Moon.

Mr Valentino is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Micro and Nano Electronics at the Faculty of ICT.